Many firms are switching production, making everything from ventilators to disinfectant and hand sanitiser.
Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters

Companies across Europe including Zara, Nivea and Dyson are making sweeping changes to their business models in a frantic effort to assist with the response to the coronavirus outbreak or to survive the crisis without going bust.

Perfume-makers including Givenchy and Christian Dior have switched production to hand sanitisers, as have alcohol giants including Absolut Vodka and Brewdog, while the Spanish fashion retailer Zara is sourcing material to make masks and hospital gowns in the effort to fight coronavirus.

Quick guide

What are coronavirus symptoms and should I go to a doctor?

Show Hide

What is Covid-19?

Covid-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a pandemic.

What are the symptoms this coronavirus causes?

According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment.

About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.

In the UK, the National health Service (NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either:

a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back

a new continuous cough - this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly

As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.

Should I go to the doctor if I have a cough?

Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities.

In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

The British Honey Company, which makes honey, gin, rum and other spirits from its base in the Cotswolds, said it would use spare capacity in its distillery in Worminghall, Buckinghamshire, to produce hand sanitiser. Its chief executive, Michael Williams, said: “An alcohol-based sanitiser is vodka or gin at 70% ABV made from denatured alcohol.

“Following approval of our application to HMRC to produce denatured alcohol, our expert distillery team have been working alongside our in-house microbiologist and an Oxford University chemist to develop and manufacture this new product.”

Some gin distillers have volunteered to do the same, while Scotland-based “punk” beer company Brewdog, which also makes spirits, is using its production facilities to make hand sanitiser. Its “Brewgel”, made at its Aberdeen distillery, is to be provided free for those in need, starting next week.

Both Brewdog and the British Honey Company are following in the footsteps of the French luxury goods firm LVMH, which began producing disinfectant gel at its Christian Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy factories for distribution to French hospitals fighting the country’s coronavirus outbreak. The luxury spirits firm Pernod Ricard is taking similar steps in the US through its Absolut Vodka brand.

Nivea has started production of medical-grade disinfectants to support the fight against the pandemic in Europe, the German consumer goods firm said on Thursday, offering to deliver 500 tonnes to medical facilities and public services.

Similarly, the fashion house Zara, owned by the Spanish company Inditex, pledged to use its global network to produce items such as surgical masks and hospital gowns. It said it had already donated 10,000 masks and a further 300,000 were due to be sent by the end of the week.

But while some companies are retooling, or using spare capacity to help limit the spread of the virus or treat sufferers, others face a struggle simply to stay afloat.

On Monday, the UK prime minister advised that people did not visit pubs and restaurants, sending shockwaves through the hospitality sector and prompting warnings that much of the industry simply could not survive a prolonged dearth of customers. On Friday, Boris Johnson announced the closure of all pubs, clubs and restaurants.

The UK’s leading pub chain, Greene King, responded by vowing that if people ccould not come to the pub, they could bring the pub home. The business is inviting customers to take away traditional fare such as steak and kidney pies, fish and chips and bottled beer. The service will start with 50 pubs this week, but Greene King aims to roll the plan out to 500 outlets across the country in the next few weeks.

Its chief executive, Nick Mackenzie, said: “Providing our locals with a pub food takeaway service has been in the planning for a while, but we’ve accelerated it due to the impact coronavirus is having on our local communities.

UK government to pay 80% of wages for those not working in coronavirus crisis

Read more

“Our pubs are at the heart of the local community and we are continuing to look at other ways we can support communities during the current crisis.”

The food takeaway service Deliveroo has already launched a “no contact” service, giving customers who are self-isolating or keeping their distance from other people the option to have meals left on their doorstep. However, major question marks remain over the sick pay that will be available to its drivers if they self-isolate, given their gig economy employment status.

Small businesses and sole traders who do not sell a physical product are turning to the internet to solve their problems. Personal trainers and language teachers have started running classes online, with customers doing star jumps or declining irregular Russian verbs in front of their computers at home.

Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk

The end of large gatherings spells disaster for the music industry, but “virtual concerts” are providing an alternative outlet for artists. The listings website Gigs Guide is providing a diary of online gigs by artists around the world.

Other sectors are adapting in ways that might not be to everybody’s taste. The betting firms Betfair and William Hill have intensified campaigns to sign people up to online casino games, as the absence of sporting events kills off the betting markets. William Hill’s US arm has also offered “international soccer action” that turned out to be fixtures from the Belarus Premier League.

One sports betting company has even begun offering punters the chance to bet on the weather, including the maximum temperatures in a variety of US cities.